Approaching Ceres

Approaching Ceres

Dawn took this series of images of Ceres before it was captured into its first orbit. Dawn approached Ceres from the direction of the Sun and passed to its night side before orbital capture. In order from left to right, the images were taken December 1, 2014 (camera calibration); January 13 and 25 and February 4 (optical navigation images 1, 2, and 3); February 12 and 19 (Rotation Characterizations 1 and 2); and February 25 and March 1 (optical navigation images 4 and 5). The next images will be taken in April.